decode this for us. are the players privately as bleak about the prospects as their public statement suggests? >> not as bleak, margaret, but bleaker than they were even a week ago and that's not terribly encouraging. the president as you reported is flying back to washington last night and some members of congress are coming back earlier than others. there will be some meetings here, there have to be some meetings between the principals and the president. there are a couple of options in the last couple of days even though it seems like five days is terribly, terribly short. there shall bills floating out there to keep tax rates where they're at for people making $250,000 and below. th could slide around. there's a senate bill that floats around. there's the president's offer which could still be amended. option 3, of course. is to go over the cliff and fight this out on january 1. >> warner: are there any meaningful back-channel negotiations going on? >> leadership aides on both sides say the channels